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May 0312:30 AM EDT
-01:30 AM EDT
Learn how Kamakshi achieved a GMAT 675 with an impressive 96th %ile in Data Insights. Discover the unique methods and exam strategies that helped her excel in DI along with other sections for a balanced and high score.
I used to think I was stupid, and my first attempt at the GMAT kind of confirmed that (got 480). I immediately cancelled my score and licked my wounds for about a month before getting back at it, and eventually scored a 670, Q44 V38.
Background:
Business graduate (bachelor) who hates math. Applied for a Management MSc and needed above 600 on the GMAT for full acceptance. Verbal wasn’t a big issue for me but I had a lot of work to do when it came to math.
Material used:
1)This amazing forum
2)GMAC official Quant Guide
3)Manhattan GMAT CAT exams
4)GMATPrep
5)GMATPrep Exam pack 1
Veritas (free exam)
And lastly I used the free trial for EMPOWERGmat, which I highly recommend for strategising and visualising. If I’d used this religiously from the start I think I would have hit 700 however I discovered it too late in my prep and didn’t have time.
Bombing my first attempt was almost a good thing when it came to prep, because it gave me the kick in the ass I needed to take prep seriously. I am lazy by nature and really dislike math. I didn’t study my score from my first attempt, because I was too mortified, but I vaguely recall that I had a Q19.
I buckled down and grasped the fundamentals as well as I could, they still confuse the hell out of me but I did my best to remember and understand as much as I could. It blows my mind how boring this is to do, but it is essential. For me, analysing why I got certain problems wrong was the key to my success.
Once I did that, I realised that around 50% of my wrong answers came from sheer sloppiness. I would multiply in my head, get to an answer, and then when that answer wasn't in the answer choices I would just choose the one that looked the best. It sounds stupid but I think more people do this than we’d like to admit.
That’s when I realised I needed to stop doing math in my head and write things down. I needed to accept the fact that I’m not one of the people that just “know” what 7 x 8 is, without ding the math. And yes, in some cases it was simple short multiplication that was my problem.
Once I accepted my flaws and stopped trying to be better at math, things started going much much better. It’s cliche, I’ve read it one million times, but the GMAT is not a math test.
It tests confidence, self-awareness, decision making, time management, reasoning, and logic.
A practical example from my test experience
I arrived at an impossible Q question and quickly realised that I have no freaking clue what the answer is, this question is beyond my level of math knowledge <- self awareness. Confidence occurred when I decided to make an educated guess. This is confidence because I can trust that this exam is measuring my level, and I know my level is in the 600 range, because that’s what I get on my mocks. Trust the test. Decide to move on -> Decision making. Maybe 30 seconds has passed for me to come to this realisation. There is no point wasting time and effort on trying to figure this out--> time management. I use strategies I learned at EMPOWERGmat to eliminate certain answer choices and take a guess, and completely forget about that question forever, because its time to focus on the next question.
Warning: if you’re lazy, like me, the above technique is extremely dangerous because it can make you cut corners and maybe you’re guessing too often because a question looks daunting. Be self aware and challenge yourself in prep, attempt everything during prep, that’s not going to hurt you. You can spend 20 minutes on 1 question while you are prepping to understand the method to solve it and you’ll gain knowledge that might help you on the test. I would have saved myself a lot of time and misery if I realised this earlier.
Tips:
1)Take every CAT seriously, you’re only wasting your own time if you half ass them
2) When you’re fatigued from weeks of revising, give yourself a break
3) Don’t pressure yourself, I did that and had a mental breakdown. Then my mom told me to snap out of it because it’s just a test and it doesn’t mean I’m an idiot if I fail. You wouldn’t just quit trying to get your drivers license if you failed the test once: you just try again!
4) Whenever you have spare time, but maybe feel too fatigued to study, but find yourself incapable of enjoying life because you are stressed, try to visualise the test situation. Visualise the worst case scenario (your least favourite type of quant question), and then visualise yourself calmly making wise decisions and moving on) <- this sounds so silly but honestly, it helps.
5) Don't let laziness get the best of you
I think that’s all for my debrief to be honest. If you're aiming for 700+ I bet this isn’t going to cut it, but I just needed above 600. That seemed VERY daunting to me though, and I am proud of my score.
INTEGRATED REASONING: Personally this part of the test wasn't relevant to me so if a question looked like it was annoying to solve I just skipped it. If a question looked OK to solve I used it as a warmup. I used AWA as a warmup too, but if I thought AWA was mentally taxing I wouldn't have given it the time of day either: I had one objective and that was all I cared about. That probably shouldn't be your approach unless you have the same situation as me though ( a conditional offer requiring a certain score, regardless of AWA and IR).
AWA score: 5.5
There is a plethora of help on this forum to help you crack the the GMAT, use it and you should be fine
GOOD LUCK!!!
(If I can do it, anyone can)
Background:
Business graduate (bachelor) who hates math. Applied for a Management MSc and needed above 600 on the GMAT for full acceptance. Verbal wasn’t a big issue for me but I had a lot of work to do when it came to math.
Material used:
1)This amazing forum
2)GMAC official Quant Guide
3)Manhattan GMAT CAT exams
4)GMATPrep
5)GMATPrep Exam pack 1
Veritas (free exam)
And lastly I used the free trial for EMPOWERGmat, which I highly recommend for strategising and visualising. If I’d used this religiously from the start I think I would have hit 700 however I discovered it too late in my prep and didn’t have time.
Bombing my first attempt was almost a good thing when it came to prep, because it gave me the kick in the ass I needed to take prep seriously. I am lazy by nature and really dislike math. I didn’t study my score from my first attempt, because I was too mortified, but I vaguely recall that I had a Q19.
I buckled down and grasped the fundamentals as well as I could, they still confuse the hell out of me but I did my best to remember and understand as much as I could. It blows my mind how boring this is to do, but it is essential. For me, analysing why I got certain problems wrong was the key to my success.
Once I did that, I realised that around 50% of my wrong answers came from sheer sloppiness. I would multiply in my head, get to an answer, and then when that answer wasn't in the answer choices I would just choose the one that looked the best. It sounds stupid but I think more people do this than we’d like to admit.
That’s when I realised I needed to stop doing math in my head and write things down. I needed to accept the fact that I’m not one of the people that just “know” what 7 x 8 is, without ding the math. And yes, in some cases it was simple short multiplication that was my problem.
Once I accepted my flaws and stopped trying to be better at math, things started going much much better. It’s cliche, I’ve read it one million times, but the GMAT is not a math test.
It tests confidence, self-awareness, decision making, time management, reasoning, and logic.
A practical example from my test experience
I arrived at an impossible Q question and quickly realised that I have no freaking clue what the answer is, this question is beyond my level of math knowledge <- self awareness. Confidence occurred when I decided to make an educated guess. This is confidence because I can trust that this exam is measuring my level, and I know my level is in the 600 range, because that’s what I get on my mocks. Trust the test. Decide to move on -> Decision making. Maybe 30 seconds has passed for me to come to this realisation. There is no point wasting time and effort on trying to figure this out--> time management. I use strategies I learned at EMPOWERGmat to eliminate certain answer choices and take a guess, and completely forget about that question forever, because its time to focus on the next question.
Warning: if you’re lazy, like me, the above technique is extremely dangerous because it can make you cut corners and maybe you’re guessing too often because a question looks daunting. Be self aware and challenge yourself in prep, attempt everything during prep, that’s not going to hurt you. You can spend 20 minutes on 1 question while you are prepping to understand the method to solve it and you’ll gain knowledge that might help you on the test. I would have saved myself a lot of time and misery if I realised this earlier.
Tips:
1)Take every CAT seriously, you’re only wasting your own time if you half ass them
2) When you’re fatigued from weeks of revising, give yourself a break
3) Don’t pressure yourself, I did that and had a mental breakdown. Then my mom told me to snap out of it because it’s just a test and it doesn’t mean I’m an idiot if I fail. You wouldn’t just quit trying to get your drivers license if you failed the test once: you just try again!
4) Whenever you have spare time, but maybe feel too fatigued to study, but find yourself incapable of enjoying life because you are stressed, try to visualise the test situation. Visualise the worst case scenario (your least favourite type of quant question), and then visualise yourself calmly making wise decisions and moving on) <- this sounds so silly but honestly, it helps.
5) Don't let laziness get the best of you
I think that’s all for my debrief to be honest. If you're aiming for 700+ I bet this isn’t going to cut it, but I just needed above 600. That seemed VERY daunting to me though, and I am proud of my score.
INTEGRATED REASONING: Personally this part of the test wasn't relevant to me so if a question looked like it was annoying to solve I just skipped it. If a question looked OK to solve I used it as a warmup. I used AWA as a warmup too, but if I thought AWA was mentally taxing I wouldn't have given it the time of day either: I had one objective and that was all I cared about. That probably shouldn't be your approach unless you have the same situation as me though ( a conditional offer requiring a certain score, regardless of AWA and IR).
AWA score: 5.5
There is a plethora of help on this forum to help you crack the the GMAT, use it and you should be fine
GOOD LUCK!!!
(If I can do it, anyone can)
04 Jun 2015, 16:30
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi sabineodf,
First off, you earned a fantastic increase in your score (+190 points is not something that many Test Takers can boast about) and that in itself is quite an achievement. With a 670, you have a score that's above the 80th percentile overall, so you're in position to apply to ANY business School that you choose, and you shouldn't hold back when it comes to your applications.
You worked hard and adapted to the situation; THAT mindset is something that will serve you well in the next 'phases' of this whole process.
When are you planning to apply to Business School?
Have you thought about which School(s) you'll be applying to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
First off, you earned a fantastic increase in your score (+190 points is not something that many Test Takers can boast about) and that in itself is quite an achievement. With a 670, you have a score that's above the 80th percentile overall, so you're in position to apply to ANY business School that you choose, and you shouldn't hold back when it comes to your applications.
You worked hard and adapted to the situation; THAT mindset is something that will serve you well in the next 'phases' of this whole process.
When are you planning to apply to Business School?
Have you thought about which School(s) you'll be applying to?
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
08 Jun 2015, 01:42
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks a lot! I intend on going to Cass, however I will check out other Management programs in the London area as well and make sure I am 100% on my choice.
